What is it? CSR is the moral responsibility that corporations have to treat their workers & the environment well, despite lost profits. This means providing their employees with proper wages, benefits, and upholding their rights. CSR is a system set up to self regulate the actions of the company, being aware of their effects on the environment, communities, the consumer and the employees. It is set up within businesses to promote the integration of everything involved and affected by the company.
Corporate Social Responsibility ensures that companies adhere to ethical and moral values regarding those they affect. It monitors a company’s actions, making sure they abide by the law and promote public involvement.
How did it start? Corporate Social Responsibility was started approx 10 – 15 years ago by organizations putting pressure on businesses to change their methods of operations and conduct a more ethical business environment. One of the major jumps for CSR is the example of Shell. Shell is an oil company who owned an oil storage buoy off the coast of the UK called Brent Spar. The company had planned to dispose of the buoy by sinking it, and by doing so releasing all the toxic waste into the ocean. Shell was then boycotted for its treatment of the environment, and almost went bankrupt. People saw the power of the public and the impact social involvement had, and CSR took off. Why is it important? Corporate Social Responsibility is an important issue to the corporate world because in so many cases, companies take their work to poorer countries and exploit the people there, and abuse their human rights. Many countries also deplete much of the earth’s resources, sucking it dry without thinking twice. Corporations can abuse rights and the environment in order to make more profit. CSR helps to avoid these issues by promoting public involvement and a sense of community input. It ensures businesses will honor the laws set in place and prevents the destruction of the planet. By promoting community involvement, the companies are forced to be aware of what they are doing to their surrounding environment, and prevent social and environmental conflict. Corporations are then obligated to take steps further to improve the lives of their workers, and the surrounding society.
Key Players People are using the CSR from large businesses to a group like the UK government. Other key players within CSR are the Business in the Community as well as CSR Europe and The EC. What CSR hopes to accomplish? CSR wants to improve the creativity within the companies. As time passes people are becoming much more aware about the ethical values of the products in which they are buying. CSR is looking to make some changes such as staff costs and shareholder values because people want to work for ethical employers. It has been claimed that some people would rather pay the extra money if they knew the products were being socially and environmentally responsible. Case studies have also shown that employers who are responsible, ethical people attract and retain quality staff easier than those who do not. Therefore CSR should be in charge of lowering recruitment costs and the staff turnover. The Pros and Cons of CSR
The positive thing about CSR is that it encourages businesses to protect their corporate reputation for the future. Proper business practices can help protect companies from consumer boycotts. The better the companies promote themselves the more likely they are to have employees wanting to work for them. This also links to customers who are then satisfied as a result of employees who are apart of a motivated workforce.
The problem to this is that CSR could be creating a backlash to their success. This is because companies begin to think that they are pushing a “cynical PR exercise”. The EU is hoping to force organisations to report all their relations records, such as their environmental, diversity and community records. Therefore the CSR promoted too well and environmentalists are now trying to legislate for it. Some non-governmental organisations have joined the CSR and are hoping to tell companies what needs to be done.
What is it? CSR is the moral responsibility that corporations have to treat their workers & the environment well, despite lost profits. This means providing their employees with proper wages, benefits, and upholding their rights. CSR is a system set up to self regulate the actions of the company, being aware of their effects on the environment, communities, the consumer and the employees. It is set up within businesses to promote the integration of everything involved and affected by the company.
Corporate Social Responsibility ensures that companies adhere to ethical and moral values regarding those they affect. It monitors a company’s actions, making sure they abide by the law and promote public involvement.
How did it start? Corporate Social Responsibility was started approx 10 – 15 years ago by organizations putting pressure on businesses to change their methods of operations and conduct a more ethical business environment. One of the major jumps for CSR is the example of Shell. Shell is an oil company who owned an oil storage buoy off the coast of the UK called Brent Spar. The company had planned to dispose of the buoy by sinking it, and by doing so releasing all the toxic waste into the ocean. Shell was then boycotted for its treatment of the environment, and almost went bankrupt. People saw the power of the public and the impact social involvement had, and CSR took off.
Why is it important? Corporate Social Responsibility is an important issue to the corporate world because in so many cases, companies take their work to poorer countries and exploit the people there, and abuse their human rights. Many countries also deplete much of the earth’s resources, sucking it dry without thinking twice. Corporations can abuse rights and the environment in order to make more profit. CSR helps to avoid these issues by promoting public involvement and a sense of community input. It ensures businesses will honor the laws set in place and prevents the destruction of the planet. By promoting community involvement, the companies are forced to be aware of what they are doing to their surrounding environment, and prevent social and environmental conflict. Corporations are then obligated to take steps further to improve the lives of their workers, and the surrounding society.
Key Players
People are using the CSR from large businesses to a group like the UK government. Other key players within CSR are the Business in the Community as well as CSR Europe and The EC.
What CSR hopes to accomplish?
CSR wants to improve the creativity within the companies. As time passes people are becoming much more aware about the ethical values of the products in which they are buying. CSR is looking to make some changes such as staff costs and shareholder values because people want to work for ethical employers. It has been claimed that some people would rather pay the extra money if they knew the products were being socially and environmentally responsible. Case studies have also shown that employers who are responsible, ethical people attract and retain quality staff easier than those who do not. Therefore CSR should be in charge of lowering recruitment costs and the staff turnover.
The Pros and Cons of CSR
The positive thing about CSR is that it encourages businesses to protect their corporate reputation for the future. Proper business practices can help protect companies from consumer boycotts. The better the companies promote themselves the more likely they are to have employees wanting to work for them. This also links to customers who are then satisfied as a result of employees who are apart of a motivated workforce.
The problem to this is that CSR could be creating a backlash to their success. This is because companies begin to think that they are pushing a “cynical PR exercise”. The EU is hoping to force organisations to report all their relations records, such as their environmental, diversity and community records. Therefore the CSR promoted too well and environmentalists are now trying to legislate for it. Some non-governmental organisations have joined the CSR and are hoping to tell companies what needs to be done.